Film

Let’s go back in time. Back to the 21st-century aughts, when vampires and werewolves ruled the airways, followed years later by women reading fifty shades of BDSM on city buses (replete with hide-a-book covers). Because I really want to talk about two of the biggest female-driven media phenomena of the last decade: the Twilight saga and Fifty Shades series. These two otherworldly tales aren’t just Hollywood blockbusters: these are popular texts that circulate across multiple mediums //

With the pull of a lever, the white and pink door vanished. All that was left was a pile of shredded wood and a knob. While countless other doors still linked the human and monster worlds, this door was shredded to ensure Sulley and Boo were separated and that the pair would never see each other again. Pixar has a habit of pulling at the heartstrings of its audience through its films. Monsters Inc, specifically through this heartbreaking scene between Sulley and Boo, follows this trend. By the //

Picard has that voice, but Han Solo has hair. Redshirts always die, but Stormtroopers can’t hit the broadside of a bantha. Tribbles took out a Klingon ship, but Ewoks helped destroy the Death Star. James T. Kirk shook things up with TV’s first interracial kiss. And, well, Luke Skywalker kinda made out with his sister. Both Star Trek and Star Wars are spectacular and space-shattering franchises, and both have spawned a new frontier of fanfiction writing, cosplaying, //

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Logan (2017). If you haven’t seen it yet, retreat back to your abandoned smelting plant and rest your adamantium-weary bones. The seeds for Logan are planted in The Wolverine, James Mangold’s 2013 take on the eponymous mutant superhero portrayed by Hugh Jackman. An adaptation of the Silver Samurai storyline from a 1982 Wolverine limited series comic book, it sees the clawed Canadian travel to Japan to say goodbye to an old friend, only to //

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. If you haven’t seen it yet, encase yourself in frozen carbonite and come back when you’ve recovered from hibernation sickness. In a 1978 interview on The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson asked astronomer Carl Sagan about the scientific accuracy of the Star Wars films. Sagan responded with disappointment about the one-dimensionality of the series’ creatures: “They’re all white. The skin of all the humans in Star //

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. If you haven’t seen it yet, encase yourself in frozen carbonite and come back when you’ve recovered from hibernation sickness. A Star Wars film used to be a rare occurrence. George Lucas’ original and prequel trilogies, separated by 16 years of fan theorizing and expanded universe literature, only released their individual episodes at intervals of three years, stretching out the anticipation factor for as //

Likely the most common complaint about J.J. Abrams’ two Star Trek films (2009’s eponymous reboot and 2013’s Into Darkness) is that they felt more like Star Wars than Trek – perhaps signifying Abrams was actually auditioning to take the reigns of George Lucas’ beloved space opera franchise. That Abrams went on to direct 2015’s The Force Awakens, spurning this third entry in the reboot series he began, is not irrelevant information, but it begs the question of just how dissimilar //

It would be easy to dismiss Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters as just another 21st century remake. The sentiment behind the film is similar to other recent reimaginings: tap into viewers’ childhood nostalgia by updating familiar material with modern actors, special effects and pop culture references, creating a work that bridges two generations of moviegoers. It’s the rationale behind the redos of fellow ‘80s genre hits Robocop, Red Dawn and The Thing (technically a prequel, but structured like //

Captain America: Winter Soldier turned the Marvel cinematic universe fandom upside down with new pairings and the fall of SHIELD. Will Civil War do the same? In the run-up to Civil War’s release, the Marvel fandom has been throwing around “Civil War” memes and using tags #TeamCap or #TeamIronMan. Will this movie makes us hate one side or the other and cause a massive fandom war? Will the fallout be similar to the comics run of the same name? Despite all the rhetoric the two //

“From Beatlemania to Beliebers. Trekkies to Twihards. Behind every great success story there’s an army of fans. Most just want to show their appreciation. Some take it further to prove their dedication. But there’s an elite group who go above and beyond this: they push the boundaries and walk the line between keen interest and life-changing obsession. But why?”—Tom Felton Why obsessive fans act the way they do is the central question of Tom Felton’s documentary, Tom Felton Meets the //

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FAN/FIC is an online magazine for fanfic readers and writers. We publish compelling articles and personal essays about fan culture, practical advice on how to improve your craft, and interviews with people in the community.